FIRST SPAN OF BRIDGE CONCRETE POURED

Workers began the first of three cement pouring projects on the deck of the new Madison-Milton bridge on Saturday. The pour was for the first 800 feet of the 2,400-foot-long steel truss bridge.

The pour on the Milton side used cement trucks, which unloaded two trucks at a time into a cement pumper apparatus. That device pushed the cement through a tube from the Milton approach, 800 feet out. As the cement was poured and the crew worked back toward Milton, sections of the tube were removed.

Workers poured 60 to 80 feet of cement per hour.

Once the concrete deck is complete in late spring, preparations will begin for switching traffic from the existing bridge to the new span on temporary piers, said Andrea Clifford of the Kentucky Department of Transportation.

Drivers will access the new traffic pattern using the recently completed approaches. Traffic will be diverted to the new bridge by way of a short transition span from the approach to the bridge.

Once traffic is diverted to the new span on temporary piers, workers will begin demolishing the steel truss of the old bridge. Extra care will be taken to protect the existing piers which are being strengthened and reused. (Staff photos by Ken Ritchie/kritchie@madisoncourier.com)